


Too Long Since I've Been a Fool

by Mallymkun



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Faerie AU, I guess mentions of mpreg?, M/M, Only Briefly - Freeform, Violence, calum is an elf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 21:17:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5221139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mallymkun/pseuds/Mallymkun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calum has grown tired of the loneliness that sits in his chest, then one day a lost traveler crosses his path.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Long Since I've Been a Fool

**Author's Note:**

> There are a few things I should probably define/translate first. I found these all off different websites. 
> 
> Drove - a group of elves  
> Solace - a group of Babas Yaga (singular Baba Yaga) 
> 
> Translations:  
> Ada - a familiar/loving version of father  
> Nana - a familiar/loving version of mother  
> Ollo vae - sweet dreams  
> Goston angin - I fear for you  
> Av-‘osto - Don't be afraid  
> Boe i ‘waen - I must go  
> Na lû n'i a-goveninc - Until we meet again  
> I dhôl gîn lost - Your head is empty (Basically the elvish equivalent of calling someone stupid or foolish)  
> Avo nago den - Don't kill him  
> De melin - I love him  
> Gin iallon - I'm begging (you)  
> Guren níniatha n'i lû n'i a-govenitham, cund vuin - my heart will weep until the time we meet again, my beloved prince  
> Ionneg - My son  
> Na vedui - At last/finally  
> Gwannas lû and - A long time has passed
> 
> Theses are pretty much the order they appear in. I'll leave them at the end as well.

Calum was old.

He was starting to feel it in the way the wind whispered new songs through the trees, and the way the sun didn’t feel as warm on his skin. His parents scolded him and shook their heads, trying to drill into his brain that at seventeen hundred, he was the youngest of their drove, but he brushed off their words. One thousand, seven hundred years old. That’s how old Calum was turning, and he felt it in his bones. The others were a bit older than him, only by a couple hundred years, which were practically months to elven folk, but they seemed young. They ran through the trees and laughed as they pestered the naiads which inhabited the brook. Calum would often sit a mile or so down the stream from where they played, reading one of the books he would occasionally find abandoned along the trail that cut through the forest he called home. Most of the time, the books would belong to someone who had died there, mauled by the wolves that came down from the mountains when prey was scarce, or to travelers who died in the cold winters when Calum and his family lived in the caves carved out by millions of years of water cutting through the rock. It was rare that these abandoned travelers would be carrying anything of use to Calum. Their iron items burned him and he didn’t like the glint of gold or silver. However, when they carried a book, Calum would collect it and hide it among his belongings, knowing that if his parents found them he would be shamed for interacting with the human world.

He had three books now. One was a book on the animals and plants of the forest in which he lived. This was the first book he found, at the age of only six thousand and eighty. It was a good book to find, because he knew many of the plants and animals in there in his own language, and it made the language the humans spoke easier to understand. When he finally was able to read the whole thing, he stumble across a second book. This one was about the kings of the land only three days journey from his forest. He frowned at their failures and misunderstanding of the faerie folk. It seemed the downfall of every king was blamed on a spell or curse set upon them by the beings which inhabited the wild areas. Calum knew that that was why his parents discouraged interacting with humans. It was said that any human would kill a faerie on sight. Calum doubted it. There were surely some elves in their drove who would kill a human, but others would not, and he figured humans must be the same way.

The third book he found was the one that currently sat in his lap. He had found it only a few weeks ago, but he had already read it a countless number of times, his fingers wearing away the pictures on the front cover. The book was beautiful, the script different from the other informational books Calum had read. The colors were vibrant and he stroked a finger softly down the page he was currently open to. A man knelt next to a woman, clutching her close as what Calum figured to be the wind whirled around them. He knew that the story ended in tragedy, the man dying to keep her safe, but the pictures before that were happy. They were painted in greens and blues, some showing them laying in a field together, one even showing them exchanging a brief kiss.

He knew, that this book was the reason he felt the way he did. He knew it was common for his kind to not be mated until they were well past his age, but when he looked back at the years he had spent on earth, he saw nothing but loneliness. He knew who he was meant to mate. In a couple thousand years he would be put through the ceremony with Kala. She was beautiful, Calum knew that, but he had no feelings toward her. He was indifferent, and that indifference worried him. He knew he would be expected to be her partner, provide for her, and carry on his line, but it was not what he wanted. When he looked at the pictures he did not imagine Kala as the woman. He didn’t have anyone to imagine. He shared no deep connections with anyone, and that was what troubled him.

He glanced up from the page, looking up in time to watch Luke walk out of the water, his pale body, blonde hair, and blue eyes quite common among the naiads of this area, but he was the most beautiful out of all of them.

“Your friends are bugging me.” Luke sighed, sitting down next to Calum.

“They are not my friends.” Calum said matter of factly, closing his book.

Luke waved him off, “Your mate is the one who always causes the most trouble. Taunts us and ruins the currents.” Calum imagined they looked very strange, a wood elf of the east, clad in the traditional green trousers, his torso left bare to the sun, and a naiad, laid out on the shore, left to shine in the light. When they had first met, it had made Calum uncomfortable that Luke did not bother to clothe himself in the soft blue garments the other water dwellers did when they came to the shore. Luke had simply reasoned that if Calum was his friend, and excepted him as he is, then there should be no problem in Luke presenting himself as is customary of a water nymph, with no clothes at all.

“Am I making you uncomfortable again? I could put something on.” Luke asked, startling Calum out of his thoughts.

“No, I am not uncomfortable. I was just thinking about what a human would think of how we dress.” Calum explained.

Luke laughed, his head falling back to rest on the mossy trunk of the tree, “You think of humans too much, my friend. It will be your downfall.”

“Maybe.” Calum sighed, “Maybe it will.”

 

Calum was at home in the forest. He knew the animals, and the sounds they made to communicate, he knew the way the fallen leaves sounded when stepped upon by certain creatures. He knew how to make himself blend into the foliage, and slow his breathing until it blended with the gusts if wind, and that’s what he was doing now.  
He had gone out to see if he could find more beetles, the ones that when crushed made the black ink that could be pressed into your skin. His father had said he would allow Calum to get his first markings if he could find the beetles. Instead he had stumbled upon a very frightened looking human. He watched the boy dig through his pack again, looking for something urgently. Eventually the boy sat down near one of the largest trees in the forest, and put his head in his hands. Calum was confused until he saw the boy’s shoulders start to move shakily.

The human was crying.

Calum knew he could sneak away without the boy ever noticing him, he could go back to his father and tell him he could not find any beetles and that he would look again tomorrow, but Calum was rooted to the spot. He moved without realizing it and a branch snapped. The human’s head shot up.  
Calum was still hidden, and cursed himself for making such a foolish mistake, but when he saw the boy’s face his eyes grew wide.  
His face was soft, unlike the angled features of the assorted faerie creatures, including himself, who lived in the forest. His skin was paler than the naiads, and his lips round and red. His hair sat tousled into a black mess on his head. But the most alarming feature were his eyes.

They were green.

Calum had never seen anything like it. He had seen the purple eyes of the pixies, the gold of the brownies, the brown of his own race, the blue of the naiads, the yellow of the dryads, the red of the evil Babas Yaga, and the silver of the gnomes, but he had never seen eyes like these. They were made even more beautiful by the glistening tears.

“Hello?” His voice was hoarse from crying, but Calum cocked his head at the sound which he found pleasing to his ear.

“Please, if someone is out there, I’m lost, and wounded. Please, I just wish to go home.” The boy pleaded, and Calum frowned. He could not see where the boy was hurt, but he heard the innocence in his tone. The honest fear, which Calum could sense rolling off of him, was enough for the elven boy to step out from behind his tree, and   
come into the small clearing.

“Where are you hurt?” Calum asked, his voice level. The boy’s eyes grew wide, Calum could tell he had never seen a faerie before, and was sure that the folklore of the humans had twisted Calum into a monster in this boy’s mind.

“M-my chest.” He answered shakily. Calum approached him slowly, still waiting for the human to change his mind and become malicious.  
However, nothing of the sort happened, and when Calum got to him and pulled open the dark blue shirt the boy wore, he sensed nothing but gratefulness and a bit of fear.  
The wound wasn’t deep enough to be fatal, but it was large, starting at the boy’s collar bone and ending at his naval, right beside the trail of soft black hair which disappeared into his dark brown riding pants. Calum looked at the wound, trying to gauge how long it would take to heal. If Calum bandaged it, it would surely reopen on the boy’s way home.

“I am able to help, but you may have to stay while you heal.” Calum decided, looking up at the boy’s face. He was still watching Calum, his eyes unsure.

“Alright, thank you.” He nodded. Calum picked up the boy’s bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“They call me Calum.” He said as an introduction.

“My name is Michael.” The boy said weakly.

“That is an odd name.” Calum said, feeling the corners of his mouth quirk up for the first time in what felt like forever.

Michael scoffed, “And Calum isn’t?” Calum let out a laugh at the boy’s pout. His chest felt warm. He hadn’t laughed since he was a child, and his sister still belonged to his drove. Calum knelt down again, slipping his right arm under Michael’s knees and his left behind his back. “What are you doing?” Michael asked, frightened.

“Do not worry, I must carry you. The wound leaks blood with every step you take.” Calum began picking his way through the forest, heading towards the small shelter he had built near his reading spot.

“Where did you learn English?” Michael asked as Calum focused on his path.

“Books. I have three. I learned by reading them many times.” He was sure some of his pronunciations were off. He could imagine how stupid he must sound to Michael, but he figured a human speaking the language of the drove would probably sound just as ridiculous.

“You’re quite good at it.” Michael said, looking up at the sunlight peaking through the trees.

“Thank you.” Calum hid his smile.

 

When they arrived at the small shelter, Calum laid Michael down in one of the hammocks he had woven. The one the human was using was usually reserved for Luke who sometimes came to talk with Calum well into the night. He went to the small basket in the farthest corner of the shelter, which was made primarily of woven reeds and moss, as were the hammocks. It was nothing like the magnificent structures that had been built in the main clearing, but he could not take Michael back there. He picked up one of the torn shirts he had taken from Luke when he had grown out of it. He tore it into pieces, making strips of bandages which he could wrap around Michael’s chest. When he was done with the bandage he stepped back to admire his work.

“You should be good for the night. I will come back in the morning, and will hopefully be able to stay with you tomorrow night.” Calum said, gathering his things for the trek back to the main clearing. “Try not to go to far from the shelter, if another faerie sees you, I can not guarantee your safety.” Michael nodded. Calum began to walk out,   
opening the flap that served as the door.

“Thank you.” He heard Michael say softly. He turned to reply, but Michael was already drifting off to sleep.

Calum smiled, “Ollo vae.” He whispered before turning and walking out into the night.

 

His parents were confused about his story. He told them that he had run into a solace of Babas Yaga and been chased back to the stream.  
“Goston angin. ” His mother said worriedly.

“Nana, Av-‘osto.” He soothed, letting one hand cup her face. She held his hand there for a minute, and then nodded, letting him go. “Boe i ‘waen. Na lû n'i a-goveninc.” His mother smiled fondly at him as he left, his father watching warily from the background.

 

When he arrived at the shelter, Michael was no where to be seen. Needless to say, he was panicking.

“Michael?” He struggled to pronounce the name, some of the sounds not existing in his language. “Michael?!” He ran to the river, looking around hurriedly only to find him sitting by the stream.

“I found him.” Luke said jokingly from the middle of the river. Michael looked with a small smile and Calum let out a sigh of relief.

“Michael, you are lucky Luke found you, and not another.” He said, sitting down by the black haired boy.

“I was thirsty, and in need of a bath.” Michael shrugged.

“Well, I must go.” Luke interrupted, “I have business up stream to attend to, you can pay me back later for pet sitting.” He said, speaking in the language of the naiad so Michael would not catch the jab.

“Thank you, Luke.” Calum said in English, trying to make Michael more comfortable. Without another word the boy disappeared into the water. “I told my parents that I would be staying on my own for a while. It is not unusual of me to do so. I should be able to stay with you until you heal.” Calum explained.

“Thank you, this is very kind of you.” Michael said, laying back on the river bed. Calum did the same, turning his head to look at the boy. “Will you show me the forest?”

“Let me check your wounds first, I do not want to strain you.”

 

The next few days reminded Calum of his youth. He spent his afternoons splashing in the middle of the river with Luke and Michael, laughing when Luke would create dry spots around Michael so he couldn’t splash him. The mornings were sleepy, and mostly consisted of harvesting berries for breakfast and making it back in time to just catch Michael waking up. His evenings were spent resting near the river, listening to Michael read aloud from the book of kinds so that he could better understand the pronunciation. They were settling down by the river bed again that night, the light fading as Michael held out his hands for the book.

“I wish for you to read a different book tonight.” Calum said nervously.

“Of course, what is it?” Michael said with a smile. Calum noticed that they sat closer together now, almost always touching. He handed Michael the book with the beautiful pictures and the boy smiled.

“This is one of my favorites!” He said excitedly.

Calum grinned, “It is mine as well.”

He watched the stars start to appear as Michael read. They had already started their fire, and the flames cast shadows on the dirt. Once Michael had finished the first chapter, he stopped.

“Do you have someone you love like this? Is that why this is your favorite?” Michael asked, watching Calum’s face carefully.

Calum shook his head, something he had picked up from Michael in the week he had spent with him. “No, love is not common among faerie, we are assigned a mate at   
birth. Our parents decide.” He explained. “My mate is called Kala, she is beautiful, but I do not wish her to bare my children. I do not love her.” Calum was frowning, he felt even more strongly opposed to marrying Kala now, but he wasn’t sure why. He was still in deep thought when Michael leaned across, pressing a kiss to the crease between his eyebrows.

“You will hurt yourself thinking that hard.” He joked, but Calum looked at him in wonder.

“What was that?” He asked.

Michael laughed, “What, a kiss?” Calum grabbed the book from him, turning to the page of the two kissing. He pointed at it questioningly. “Yes, that’s a kiss.”

“Then why did you kiss me there?” Calum asked, confused. “Is it not supposed to be on the mouth?”

“A kiss can be placed anywhere, really, it’s a sign of affection. You just looked troubled and…. and cute.” Michael finished with a giggle.

“You care for me?” Calum asked, looking down at the page.

“Of course, Calum. You have helped me heal, you have welcomed me into your life, and you have been nothing but kind. You are my friend.” Michael said softly.

“And friends kiss each other?”

Michael shook his head, “No.”

Calum was very confused now, “But you said that we were friends?”

Michael blushed, “You are beautiful, Calum, you know that right? Someone has surely told you that.”

He was confused as to what that had to do with kissing, but Calum shook his head. “I am average among my people. My defining skill is my magic.”

“Magic?” Michael asked. Calum nodded. He placed a hand over the ground in front of him, and imagined a flower, a flower the exact color of Michael’s lips. Slowly, a sprout broke through the dirt, growing and blossoming into the color imagined.

“For you.” Calum said, picking the flower from the ground and handing it to him.

“You must know what you’re doing.” Michael whispered, not breaking eye contact.

Calum looked down, “I am sorry if I have angered you.” He felt Michael’s hand beneath his chin, forcing him to look back up into the older boy’s eyes.

“No, I am not angry, Calum.” With that Michael leaned in, connecting their lips.

 

Calum didn’t think, he just kissed back, sighing softly as Michael’s tongue ran across his bottom lip.

“I think I love you.” Michael whispered, their foreheads still touching.

Calum’s eyes widened, “You do not even know me.”   

“I know that you wake up as the sun rises. I know that you hum to yourself while you work. I know that when you are truly happy, you close your eyes and smile to yourself. I know that when you laugh you can never seem to stop, even long after the joke has passed. I know that you love books, and language, and the ivy that grows across the river. I know that you speak naiad with Luke when you have something serious to talk about. I know that your favorite place is right here on this river bank. I may not know everything about you, but I know you, Calum. I know you enough to feel myself falling in love.”

Calum could feel his heart swelling at Michael’s words, “I think I feel the same.” Calum whispered, “I have never felt like this before.”

Michael let out a breathy laugh. “Neither have I.” Calum kissed him again, but this time it felt different, it was still slow and passionate, but there was a sense of urgency behind it.

 

He had never felt true happiness until that night. It seemed that Michael’s mouth was everywhere, and he couldn’t get enough of the pink lips he had grown so fond of. Flowers bloomed around them, a side effect of Calum’s careless whispers and soft moans as his head fell back, his hands braced on Michael’s chest. He had never felt so full, so complete, so human.

 

After Michael had fallen asleep Calum stayed awake watching the stars. He had unknowingly created a shelter of flowered vines around them, the ceiling held one open spot where Calum could admire the night sky, while running a hand through Michael’s hair fondly. He knew he was in love with this boy, and he knew it was forbidden. He would have to go visit his family at some point, and at some point they would ask him to mate Kala, but he no longer wished to. He wanted to be with Michael. He wanted to live with Michael, maybe have a family with Michael, he knew it was possible for the faeries. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with the green eyed boy, but he saw that it would be nearly impossible. He held Michael closer to him, as if he could protect him from the problems the world would create for them.

 

Calum got another month and a half with Michael. He would travel home occasionally, explaining to his mother and father that this was part of him maturing, part of him getting ready to run his own household. His mother encouraged him, but his father remained suspicious.  
Michael was the love of Calum’s life. He was sure of it. The human had found every way possible to capture the elf’s heart. The way he sang quietly to himself, the way he looked at Calum like he was the sun. It warmed Calum. He found himself laughing and smiling constantly, and everyday was a good one as long as he got to fall asleep next to Michael.

“Calum, how do you say ‘I love you’ in your language.” Michael asked as they sat on the river bed, watching the dragonflies sit above the water.

Calum thought for a moment, “Well, I guess you would say, Ci velethronen. It means ‘You are my love’.”

Michael smiled, “Ci velethronen.” He said, giggling at how badly he pronounced it.

“Gellon ned i gelir i henneg ned i lelig.” Calum answered fondly.

“What does that mean?” Michael asked, kissing Calum’s jaw.

“It means, ‘I love to see your eyes shine when you laugh’.” Calum explained, letting his fingertips run over the pale skin exposed to him where Michael’s shirt lay open.

“I love you, Cal. I will love you forever, I’m sure of it.” Michael murmured sleepily.

“And I you, Michael.” Calum promised.

 

They found them the next day. Calum was woken up by Michael shouting, yelling at someone Calum had yet to encounter. Calum looked around for his boy, but stopped when something pressed against his throat. He hissed at the burning sensation of the iron.

“No! Stop, you’re hurting him! Please leave him alone. He didn’t do anything wrong! He helped me! Please don’t hurt him!” Michael was screaming now, he had stumbled back to the river bank, a group of palace guards following him. The guard that held Calum moved the knife from his throat to dig the tip of it into Calum’s shoulder. The elven boy screamed out in pain, trying to move away but only making it worse. “NO! Stop! I order you to stop!” Michael cried. trying to run towards Calum.

“I’m sorry my prince, but they are dangerous. He has surely been tricking you, holding you here to keep you from your duties at the castle.” The guard holding Michael said.

“No! No, I’m here because I want to be. He didn’t hurt me! He was helping me! I was wounded in the next kingdom! He took me in! Please, let him go.”

Calum’s eyes were wide, and Michael was momentarily reminded of how wild Calum was. While his people were civilized just as Michael himself was, there was a part of him that would always be in tune with nature, with the animals and forest, and now Michael recognized the look on Calum’s face to be the same one he saw on the face of the deer when his father took him hunting.

“He must go to the kingdom and stand trial.” The guard concluded. Michael was still struggling to get to Calum when the elves appeared from the trees.

“What is the meaning of this?” Calum’s dad demanded. Calum looked at his father in shock, unaware that he could speak english.

“Your son has kidnapped the prince,” the guard explained, “he must stand trial.”

“I did not know he was the prince, Ada,” he assured, “I took him in as a wounded traveler.”

“I dhôl gîn lost! You know what we have said about humans!” His father scolded.

“Avo nago den! Avo nago den!” His mother was whimpering in the background.

“Ada, listen-” He begged.

Calum’s father shook his head, “You have made a grave mistake, Calum.”

“De melin!” Calum shouted desperately.

His parents and drove looked at him with wide eyes. “Is this true, Calum?” His father asked.

“Yes, yes it’s true. And him me.” Calum said, his shoulder still bleeding, the blood trickling down his chest. “Gin iallon, Ada, help us.”

Calum’s father looked between the two boys. “Gentlemen, I believe there has been a misunderstanding. My son has had nothing to do with the prince’s disappearance, he wished only to be a loyal subject of the kingdom and help his majesty.” He started, not taking his eyes off his son. “I believe, if anything, thanks is in order, but I will let you take the prince back to the kingdom and ask for no reward, only that you release my son.” He finished. The guards looked to the one holding Michael who thought for a moment and then nodded.  
Calum was released and roughly pushed to the ground. He groaned in pain and Michael let out a whimper, running to help him.

“I’m ok.” Calum whispered, holding his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize they would even still be looking for me. I figured they thought I was dead.” He said his hand holding Calum’s firmly.

“Go back to the palace, Michael. That is the only way this can happen.” Calum explained. Michael shook his head, “Please, Michael, I’m begging you. You have to go.” Calum said weakly.

Michael nodded, “We will see each other again?”

“If not in this life, then certainly in the next.” Calum whispered. Michael let a tear slip down his cheek.

He stood to go with the guards, beginning his walk into the trees, he turned back at the last moment, “Ci velethronen.” He called, tears flowing freely now.

Calum smiled, “Guren níniatha n'i lû n'i a-govenitham, cund vuin.” And with that, he watched Michael disappear into the forest.

 

That night he sat beside his father at the fire.

“I did not know you spoke English.” He said stonily.

“It is an important skill that any leader in the drove must have.” His father explained.

“I am grateful for what you did for me, but I will never be happy about it.” Calum said, looking into the fire.

His father glanced at him before looking back to the flames as well, “I am sorry you had to lose one you loved. But he is a human, and could never have stayed in the forest. He will die long before you will, and it would only bring you more heartache.” His father reasoned.

“He is my husband.” Calum said softly. His father looked at him with wide eyes.

“You let him mate you?” He asked.

“He is human, he does not know what it means to the elves. To them, it is simply an act of pleasure.” Calum explained. “But I know he loved me. He made me happier than anyone else ever has.”

“I am sorry, my son. I truly am.” His father sighed.

“It is not your fault, Ada. My head was in the clouds. I had to come back down at some point.”

 

Calum lived alone now. He stayed in the same shelter he had fallen in love with Michael with. He could not mate Kala now that Michael was his mate. He had asked his father for leave, so that he may grieve alone.

“You have a place here, son. You do not have to live in solitude.” His father reminded him, before he left.

“I know, Ada, but I will always be lonely, no matter how many loved ones I surround myself with, I will be alone.”

 

He spoke to Luke everyday, the naiad was his only source of comfort. After a few months he moved into a deeper part of the forest, secluding himself. He could not live where the memories still haunted him, he could not. And in his new home, his son was born.

 

“Aranhil!” He yelled from his place inside their home. It had been eight years since he had last seen Michael, his son was seven, and ran comfortably through the forest Calum had always called home. They spoke mostly english, but Aran, as Calum called him sometimes, knew some elvish as well. That was where his name came from after all. “Aranhil, the sun is setting, come in for dinner.” He commanded. He expected his son to come through the door, his dark hair matted to his head from running with the rabbits. His son took after him, mostly. His skin was golden, and his hair dark. His nose was prominent, and his lips full just as Calum’s were, but Michael’s green eyes brightened his face, and his father’s sense of humor was evident.

When Aranhil was still not home a few minutes later, Calum grew worried. He closed the pot over the small fire, running outside to look for his son.  
“Aran? Aranhil where are you? Please, Ionneg!” He received no answer. He ran through the forest, checking all of his son’s usual play spots until he reached the path. He saw the small boy standing in the middle of the path next to a group of men on horses. “Aranhil, Na vedui! I was so worried.” He ran to the boy, ignoring the men and scooping him up in his arms. “Please, never scare your Ada like that again.” He placed a gentle kiss on his son’s forehead before turning his attention to the man on the horse Aran was talking to.

His heart seemed to stop.

“Calum?” That voice. He had missed that voice.

“Michael.” He said softly. The eight years had been kind. Michael looked only slightly older, a light stubble decorating his chin. His riding clothes were much nicer, and   
Calum noticed that a gold crown sat upon his head. “My King.” He corrected himself.

Michael looked upset at that. “This boy is your son?” He asked.

“Yes, Aranhil is mine.” He said.

Michael smiled at the love in Calum’s eyes, “What an interesting name.”

Calum looked into his eyes for the first time in eight years, “It means ‘king’s son’.” He explained. He heard Michael’s breath catch.

“He is my son?” Michael asked softly.

“Yes. Of course, Michael.”

Michael dismounted the horse, kneeling down by the little boy. “Hello, Aranhil.”

“Hello.” The little boy came out from behind Calum’s arms, looking at Michael curiously. He turned to Calum. “Nana?” He asked and Calum laughed.

“No, Ada.” He answered.

The little boy looked confused, “But you’re Ada.”

“He is also your Ada, he’s your…” Calum thought for a moment, “Papa. Arahnil he is your Papa.” Aran smiled.

“Where has he been?” The boy asked.

“He has been far away. He was taken from us. But he has found us again.” Calum answered, looking up at Michael.

“I have. I love you and your Ada very much. I would wish that you come to live with me.”

Calum gasped, “Have you not a queen?” He asked quietly.

“No, I have been searching for my lost King for eight years. It didn’t leave me with much time for that.” Michael answered with a smile.

“You are still witty.” Calum blushed.

“And you are still made of magic.” He responded, pressing a soft kiss to Calum’s lips.

“Gwannas lû and. I have missed you dearly.” The elf whispered.

“And I you, my love.”

 

Calum sat beside Michael, watching Aranhil play with his toys in front of the fire. The throne room bloomed with the vines growing up the walls.

“Your happiness will surely ruin the stones of the building.” Michael teased.

“You dare take it from me?” Calum threw back, a smile stretched across his face.

“Never.” Michael answered.

Calum was still not used to it, not after months of sitting beside Michael at the throne, he would never be used to the silk robes that adorned his body, nor the silver crown that sat on his head.  
When they had arrived back at the castle, Michael had immediately announced that he had found his lost love, and that they would be wed. Calum had been more than happy to accept his proposal, his heart feeling at home after so long. But concerns arose. Calum was an elf, he would live thousands of years longer than Michael. While they had deduced that Aranhil would only live slightly longer than a normal human due to the rate he was aging at, Calum worried about his family dying before him. Michael assured him they would find a solution, and they had. Calum had to give up most of his magic. To shorten his lifespan enough to where he would only live about as long as Michael would was difficult, and he was no longer able to understand the needs of the animals, or whisper to the wind and plants. However, sometimes, when he was unbelievably happy, flowers would still grow and bloom around him.

 

When they went to bed that night, Calum wrapped his arms around Michael, letting the King’s face nuzzle into his neck as he pressed soft kisses into his hair. From their large bed he could see out the window, and look at the stars in the same way he had when they first had met years ago.

“Ci velethronen.” Michael whispered sleepily.

Calum smiled, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this please leave kudos and please please please comment. Comments are what keep me writing. 
> 
> Drove - a group of elves  
> Solace - a group of Babas Yaga (singular Baba Yaga) 
> 
> Translations:  
> Ada - a familiar/loving version of father  
> Nana - a familiar/loving version of mother  
> Ollo vae - sweet dreams  
> Goston angin - I fear for you  
> Av-‘osto - Don't be afraid  
> Boe i ‘waen - I must go  
> Na lû n'i a-goveninc - Until we meet again  
> I dhôl gîn lost - Your head is empty (Basically the elvish equivalent of calling someone stupid or foolish)  
> Avo nago den - Don't kill him  
> De melin - I love him  
> Gin iallon - I'm begging (you)  
> Guren níniatha n'i lû n'i a-govenitham, cund vuin - my heart will weep until the time we meet again, my beloved prince  
> Ionneg - My son  
> Na vedui - At last/finally  
> Gwannas lû and - A long time has passed
> 
> Theses are pretty much the order they appear in. I'll leave them at the end as well.


End file.
